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Season 2 of the Rooted and Routed Podcast is officially wrapped, and this is your recap.

From authentic voices to deep-dive conversations, this season has been about growth, identity, and navigating change. Thank you to every subscriber, listener, and guest who joined the journey.

As we reflect, we’re also reimagining what’s next. The conversations are evolving in direction, in depth, and in reach.

We’re not just telling stories.
We’re exploring what it takes to begin, to adapt, and to create impact through lived experiences across cultures. Small steps that connect, bridge, and quietly transform lives.

👇 Got someone in mind whose story deserves to be heard?
Nominate a guest for Season 3; we’re always looking for voices that inspire, inform, and challenge the way we see the world.
All nominations will be thoughtfully reviewed by our team.

Drop your nomination in the comments or message us directly with a brief intro to their story.

🎧 Available now on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SIZRiApXjy4UzKVP1Yrzv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1755695962
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fdd33e4-4e7a-4be7-b7c6-9f2ce76c5580/rooted-and-routed-podcast
Podcast Index: https://podcastindex.org/podcast/6956558
Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/rooted-and-routed-podcast/5204852
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/rooted-and-routed-podcast-5782163
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vbrcdo35
Player FM: https://player.fm/series/rooted-and-routed-podcast

Follow us: https://rootedandrouted.com

Join us and dive into the fascinating world of expat life. Your journey towards connection, culture, and community starts here.

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In part 2 of our conversation, Carlos Ruano unpacks the quiet decisions and systemic gaps many never hear about — from pensions to policy reform, reinvention, and the emotional costs of service.

What We Cover in This Segment:

• Why some diplomats transition into real estate, coaching, or other services tailored to diplomatic families
• How working inside institutions contrasts with entrepreneurship: balancing structure, autonomy, and adaptation
• The emotional decisions behind leaving a diplomatic career to return home — and how priorities shift
• Concrete policy measures Carlos is proposing that require no new resources — just a shift in mindset and internal memos
• The pension dilemma: how years of service lost while following a partner abroad affect long-term security
• Comparative thoughts: Why some countries may already have better support systems for diplomatic families
• How educational systems abroad force families to pick between curricula, bilingual schooling, and cultural continuity
• Carlos’s passion project: linking nutrition with education in high-need areas, and the innovation in bridging ministries
• A touching personal story of a former student whose life was shaped by a radio-based education program
• Reflections on the unseen impact we have on others — sometimes by simply pointing someone toward an opportunity

Tune in to hear how Carlos imagines systems evolving, and how lived experience can push policy toward more human-centered change.

This is only Part 2. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, we encourage you to start there for full context.

🎧 Available now on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SIZRiApXjy4UzKVP1Yrzv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1755695962
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fdd33e4-4e7a-4be7-b7c6-9f2ce76c5580/rooted-and-routed-podcast
Podcast Index: https://podcastindex.org/podcast/6956558
Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/rooted-and-routed-podcast/5204852
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/rooted-and-routed-podcast-5782163
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vbrcdo35
Player FM: https://player.fm/series/rooted-and-routed-podcast

Follow us: https://rootedandrouted.com

Join us and dive into the fascinating world of expat life. Your journey towards connection, culture, and community starts here.

Send us a text

As always, Rooted and Routed isn’t here to deliver headlines. We’re here to hold space for the stories that shape people, quietly and powerfully.
In this part 1 episode, Sabiya sits down with Carlos Ruano — a diplomat, academic, and cultural observer who has lived in 10 countries, worked in international diplomacy, global education, and policy design, and held roles from UN specialist to radio host, academic mentor to diplomatic spouse. He offers layered insights into identity, service, and belonging. His journey isn’t just professional; it’s personal — shaped by systems, family, movement, and meaning.

📌 What We Explore Together:

- How a childhood marked by catastrophe — a major earthquake in Guatemala — became a foundational anchor for resilience and purpose

- What it means to stay grounded when your roles, locations, and responsibilities are in constant motion

- The idea of Liminality — living between identities, between geographies, and between assignments — and learning to adapt through it all

- Why answering “What do you do?” isn’t always simple when your work spans disciplines, borders, and belief systems

- What it means to live both as a diplomat and a diplomatic spouse — and how those shifting roles impact identity, agency, and emotional well-being

- Raising children in diplomatic circles — and the emotional tension between craving stability and growing up in constant movement

- The often overlooked realities of life as diplomatic spouses — and how marriage, mobility, and identity intersect in systems that haven’t caught up with modern family dynamics

- The quiet trade-offs behind a life of global service

🎧 Whether you're part of the global mobility world or simply curious about the lived realities of those who carry purpose across cultures, this episode offers a rare glimpse into what it truly means to serve — not just as an individual, but as a family.

🔔 If you’re here for depth, for human truth, for cultural storytelling beyond the mainstream—this is for you.

🎧 Available now on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SIZRiApXjy4UzKVP1Yrzv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1755695962
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fdd33e4-4e7a-4be7-b7c6-9f2ce76c5580/rooted-and-routed-podcast
Podcast Index: https://podcastindex.org/podcast/6956558
Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/rooted-and-routed-podcast/5204852
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/rooted-and-routed-podcast-5782163
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/vbrcdo35
Player FM: https://player.fm/series/rooted-and-routed-podcast

Follow us: https://rootedandrouted.com

Join us and dive into the fascinating world of expat life. Your journey towards connection, culture, and community starts here.